Improvement in drop-weights for oil-wells



I M. T. MOGORMIUK. Drop-Weights for Oil-Wells.

No. 200,144. Patented Feb. 12, 1 7 s.

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MARK T. MeooRMIoK, or PETROLIA, rnNNsYLvAmA.

IMPROVEMENT IN DROP-WEIGHTS FOR OIL-WELLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 200,144, dated February12, 1878 application filed July .28, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, MARK T. MCCORMICK, ofPetrolia, in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Drop-Weights forOil-Wells; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in drops for oil-wells of theclass described in Letters Patent issued to me November 14, 1876, No.184,254, and March 27, 1877, No. 188,746.

I have been long experimenting in the matter of reviving or renewing oldwells in which the oil has ceased or partially ceased to flow. Myearlier experiments led me to conclude that a heavy weight soconstructed and dropped onto the oil or fluid in the bottom of the wellas to cause a forcible movement of said fluid would open the closedpores in the oil-rock, and, as a consequence, there would follow anincreased flow of oil. These experiments led me to take out LettersPatent No. 184,254, and later experiments led to the taking out ofLetters Patent N 0. 188,746. Since the issue of the last-named patent Ihave continued my experiments, which have been attended with success,and have shown me that the devices described in the above-named patents,while partially successful, were not wholly satisfactory.

My present device, a perspective of which is shown in Figure 1, andavertical section in Fig. 2, consists of a heavy weight, A, having aclear unobstructed channel, B, through its center.

In Letters Patent No. 188,746, when the plug was removed there was leftan inwardlyprojecting shoulder, which was an obstacle to the freepassage upward of the fluid, and on comparative experiments with thatand the device shownin this application, I found that thisgave farbetter results.

When the weight A (shown in the drawings) is dropped into a well, thefluid will sometimes be thrown through the unobstructed channel B withsuch force as often to reach to the top of the well. pothesis that theair or gas is compressed before the descending weight, and when thelatter reaches the oil or fluid, it acts on the principle of theair-gun, and, exploding through the channel B, carries portions of thefluid before it to the surface of the ground.

The weight, when it descends through the oil, has a rapid motion, whichgives that agitation necessary to open the pores in the oilrock.

I obtain my best results when there are from fifty to one hundred feetof fluid in the well. In some wells, where the quantity of oil or fluidwas small, I have found it of great advantage to fill the well up fiftyto one hundred feet with benzine or other suitable fluid before Idropped in my weight.

The weight A, after being dropped into the well, can be raised by anyordinary spear, well known in the oil-regions, and employed for raisingtubing from wells.

In order to adapt my weight to the various kinds of grabs employed,- Ihave constructed it with a threaded pin, 0, on its upper end, which isadapted to receive the pin-socket of ordinary construction. The pin 0 ismade hollow, as shown, so as to present no obstruction to the channel13'. p

In dropping the weight into very deep wells, the concussion on the oilis so great as often to cause the pin 0 to break. To provide againstthis contingency, I have formed around the upper end of the weight aseries of grooves or channels, D. A collar-socket may be passed, and theweight be th-us grappled and raised from the well. There may be formedbut one of these channels D but I prefer a number of them, as shown, toinsure better results.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. A drop-weight for oil-wells, with a clear unobstructed channelthrough its center, substantially as set forth.

2. A drop-weight for oil-wells, formed with a central bore, B, andprovided with a hollow pin, 0, on its upper end, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

-3. A drop for oil-wells, constructed with a This result I account foron the hycentral vertical bore, B, and with an annular In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as groove or series of grooves, 1), formed aroundmy own I affix my signature in presence of its upper enol substantiallyas and for the two Witnesses.

purpose set forth.

4:. A drop, A, for oil-Wells, constructed with MARK T. MCCORMICK. acentral vertical bore, B, and with a hollow pin O, on its top, andgroove or grooves D Witnesses: formed around its upper end,substantially as P. B. TURPIN, and for the purposes set forth. N. J.OSGOOD.

